Education in Odisha


Previously a neglected aspect of the Indian Central government, Education in Odisha is witnessing a rapid transformation. Its capital city, Bhubaneswar along with Cuttack, are emerging as a knowledge hub in India with several new public and private universities, including the establishment of an Indian Institute of Technology after five decades of demand.
Odisha has fared reasonably well in terms of literacy rates. The overall literacy rate according to Census 2011 is 73.5%, which is marginally behind of the national average of 74.04%. In Odisha there are also many schools and colleges, maintained by government.

History

Ancient and medieval era

Historically, Odisha has been at the forefront of education and research. The ruins of a major ancient university, Puspagiri, were recently discovered in Odisha. Scholars from far away lands, such as Greece, Persia and China used to study philosophy, astronomy, mathematics and science at this famed university. Along with Takshashila and Nalanda universities, Puspagiri was among the oldest universities in the world. All three universities were mentioned by the Chinese traveler Huien Tsang, who visited India in the 7th century, but unlike the others, the whereabouts of Puspagiri university were unknown until recently. As of 2007, the ruins of this university have not been fully excavated yet.
Odisha's education prospered under Hindu and Buddhist rule. However, it went into a period of decline under the Sun dynasty, after 1568. The Muslims and the Marathas, who occupied Odisha before the British, did little to spread education. Before the creation of modern Odisha, the mainstay of the education system were the Sanskrit Pathsalas, and the Maktabs, which existed in Cuttack, Balasore, Puri, Angul and Sambalpur, local Chatasalis to cater to grassroot level education, as well as advanced centres of Oriental learning.

Colonial era

The colonialization of Odisha by the British East India Company in 1803 proved disastrous to Odisha in all spheres. It led to the collapse of the traditional education system. Yet, Odisha being one of the last Indian territories to come under the British rule became exposed much later than other parts of India to the system of education they introduced. Under the East India Company, Christian missionaries who took up printing the Old and New Testaments in Odia, also contributed to some growth in education. The first primary school was created in 1822 by missionaries.
The Cuttack Zilla school, Odisha's first modern school up to matriculation level, was established in 1866. It was extended to become a Collegiate school in 1868, which provided first and second year college education to Odia students. However, Odias were severely disadvantaged by having to attend Presidency College in Kolkata for B.A. degrees. This was until the collegiate branch of Zilla school was converted into a full bachelor's degree granting college under the then commissioner, T. E. Ravenshaw. This college was named as Ravenshaw College after him.
In the early 20th Century, Gopabandhu Das established the 1st nationalist school in Odisha, the Satyabadi Bana Bidyalaya, following which Sayeed Mohammed established the second nationalist school of Odisha at Cuttack named the Muslim Seminary. These nationalist schools aimed to cultivate the ideals of patriotism in the hearts of the students.
Women's education was taken up with the establishment of the Ravenshaw Hindu Girls' School in 1873. The Maharajah of Keonjhar, the Rani of Talcher, amongst other notable Odia personalities, who made contributions. Later, Reba Ray, a former student of this school, Begum Badar un nissa Akhtar and Sailabala Das became instrumental in furthering the cause of women's education, leading to the creation of the Sailabala Women's College, Cuttack which was founded by Sailabala Das in the year 1913.
Medical education began with the opening of the first medical school in 1876, by Dr. Stewart, the Civil Surgeon of Cuttack, who also translated the Materia Medica into Odia. The first industrial school was opened in 1884, in Alalpur, Balasore. A survey school began at the same time in Cuttack, which later on became the Orissa School of Engineering, marking the beginnings of technical education in the state.

School education

Literacy

Although 10 years of primary education is mandatory in Odisha, the literacy rate is only 73.5%, which is marginally behind of the national average of 74.04%.
The government of India has undertaken steps to improve women's literacy in the tribal pockets in the state and elsewhere in India.
But the Cuttack district, including Kendrapara-Jagatsinghpur, are continuing as the most educated districts of Orissa since independence till date.
Non-formal and adult literacy programs are run in various districts and are at different stages of implementation. Out of 30 districts, 9 are continuing total literacy campaign . 10 districts are either continuing or awaiting approval of post literacy program . 11 districts have completed PLP, and some of them have received sanction for Continuing Education Program.
The State Government is committed to the Universalisation of Elementary Education in the State with the aim of fulfilling the constitutional obligation with the assistance of Central Government.

Odisha Adarsha Vidyalayas

One of the major innovation in recent years has been plans of Odisha State to set up one Odisha Adarsha Vidyalaya at each of 314 block headquarters. 100 Odisha Adarsha Vidyalayas has already started functioning from academic session 2016–17. These Adarsha Vidyalayas would be Central Board of Secondary Education affiliated fully residential schools, provide free of education, and target talented students through an annual entrance examination. These would have Class VI through Class XII and each class would have 80 number of students.

Universalisation of elementary education

Keeping in view the need for Universalisation of elementary education, there has been expansion at Primary and Upper Primary School stage of education, in the Government sector, especially in rural areas as well as backward areas.

Status of elementary education in the state

In Odisha there are 35,928 Primary and 20,427 Upper Primary schools to provide education at elementary level. More 491 New Primary and 490 New Upper Primary schools opened under S.S.A. to provide schooling in unserved areas.
  • 66 lakh children of 6–14 years age group are in-school, out of which 12 lakh are SC and 17 lakh are ST.
  • 1.87 lakh children of 6–14 years age group are out-of-school from which 0.3 lakh are from SC and 0.9 lakh are from ST community. Out of them 56,995 Children were admitted to regular existing & New Schools under Enrolment Drive in districts.
Further to improve access to Elementary Education and to achieve 100% enrolment, Government have relaxed the norm for opening of new Primary schools
  • In K.B.K. districts and Tribal Sub Plan areas new primary schools will be opened in habitations having at least 25 children in the 6–14 years age group provided there is no primary school within one KM of such habitations.
  • In all the districts the distance norm for opening of new primary and new upper primary schools is relaxed in case of natural barrier like river, hilly terrain, dense forest etc.
  • There are 218 Minority and Mission Managed Primary Schools, wherein 599 teachers are receiving grant-in-aid from the government. Besides, Odia Medium Schools.
  • Odisha_Adarsha_Vidyalaya Sangathan]

    Universalisation of Secondary Education

Secondary Education

There are 6193 Govt. and aided Secondary Schools, 849 Recognized High Schools and 151 permitted High Schools in the State.
  • As per the GIA Rules, 2004, 1981 private High Schools have been notified to receive block grant.
  • 1375 nos. of Contract Teachers has been engaged against the 3210 posts advertised.
  • Contract teachers of High Schools have been allowed the minimum basic pay of their respective regular scale in Revised Scale of Pay 2008.
  • Government have approved 799 candidates as non-teaching staff under the Rehabilitation Assistance Scheme in the year 2010.
  • Computer Literacy is being popularized in High Schools. Board of Secondary Education has included computer learning as an optional subject in the curriculum for Secondary schools.

    Rastriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA)

is a national flagship programme initiated in 2009–10 to universalise Secondary Education by making good quality education available, accessible and affordable to all children within the age group of 14 – 18 years with strong focus on the elements of gender, equity & justice.

Objectives

  • To provide secondary school within 5 km and higher secondary school within 7–10 km of every habitation.
  • Gross Enrolment Ratio of 75% for class-IX & X within five years.
  • Universal Access to Secondary Education by 2017.
  • Universal Retention by 2020.
  • Access to Secondary Education for all disadvantaged group of children.
  • To improve quality of education resulting in enhanced intellectual, social and cultural learning.

    Action Taken

  • Annual Work Plan for 2010–11 and Perspective Plan for 5 years submitted to GOI.
  • PAB approved for 2009–10 Rs.207.18 crores and for 2010–11 Rs. 507.92 crore.
  • Rs. 3.00 crores released by GOI for "Preparatory Activities" such as Strengthening State and District offices.
  • Strengthening manpower organising training/workshop/SEMI Setc.
  • Rs. 71.40 crores released by GOI for "Project Activities" such as; Civil works for new school.
  • M.M.E.R., 2009–10 is completed & is under verification by the Inspector of Schools.

    The 10+2 structure

In Odisha, as elsewhere in India, children are enrolled in school at the age of five. The core subjects taught in schools include Science, Mathematics, Social Studies, and three languages, which are usually Odia, Hindi and English. Additionally, school children receive training in sports and physical education, as well as vocational training.
After ten years of schooling, children at the end of class X must appear in one of the three school examinations;
1. All India Secondary School Examination, which is conducted by the Central Government run Central Board of Secondary Education,
2. Odisha High School Certificate Examination, which is conducted by the Board of Secondary Education, Odisha and
3. Indian Certificate of Secondary Education examination, conducted annually by the New Delhi-based Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations.
Children who appear in either the All India Secondary School Examination or the Odisha High School Certificate Examination have a choice of using Odia or English as the medium language. However, the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations makes English the mandatory language.
Two years of higher secondary education follow, which is optional. Students, usually in the 15 through 17 age group, have a choice of specializing in the following streams;
  1. Arts
  2. Science
  3. Commerce
At this stage, the students get exposed to a wide array of elective subjects. The Central Board of Secondary Education conducts the All India Senior School Certificate Examination and the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations conducts the Indian School Certificate Examinations for students in class XII. There are also Junior colleges and Degree colleges in the state that offer secondary education for class XII children. The Council of Higher Secondary Education, Odisha conducts the higher secondary level examination for them.
This educational structure in Odisha is referred to commonly as the 10+2 system. Students who undergo the 10+2 education system are eligible for admission into a college or university in Odisha, and can also opt for other professional training. However, admission into the few top institutions in Odisha, particularly in engineering and medicine, are highly competitive. Students graduating from class XII typically must qualify in an entrance examination in order to gain admission.